Updated: US 2024 Elections: Meet the Nine Re-elected Nigerian – American Lawmakers

As elections held across the US on November 5, 2024, Nigerians were not only concerned about the presidential elections as multiple Nigerians sought to be elected into US legislature.

Of this multiple Nigerians, nine stand out after they were Re-elected into the American legislature.

Re- Elected Nigerian – American Lawmakers

The re-elected Nigerian – American Lawmakers are:

1. Dr. Oye Owolewa: He was reelected as the US representative for Washington DC. Owolewa was born in Boston, to a father from Kwara and a Mother from Osun.

He is a pharmacist who in November 2020,was elected as a U.S. shadow Representative for  the district of Columbia for the first time before subsequently getting re-elected in 2022 and lately in 2024.

He has advocated for issues relating to climate change and LGBTQ over the years.

Oye Owolewa

2. Hon. Kelechi Ohaebosim:  He was reelected as the Kansas state representative for Wichita. ‘KC’ Ohaebosim received his early education in Nigeria, before he went on to receive his undergraduate education at Wichita State University. He graduated with a degree in business administration in 2005.

He was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in the 2016 election, replacing Roderick Houston thereafter winning reelection without opposition in 2018 and also in 2024.

Kelechi Ohaebosim

3. Hon. Janelle Anyanonu: She was reelected as New Mexico state representative for Albuquerque. The daughter of a Nigerian immigrant was raised in Albuquerque and graduated from Manzano High School before she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in applied sciences from Wayland Baptist University.

Anyanonu worked as an office manager and served as a member of the New Mexico Black Central Organizing Committee before winning election into the New Mexico House of Representatives in 2022 and subsequently re-elected in 2024.

4. Hon. Carol kazeem: she was reelected as Pennsylvania  state representative for Delaware county. She was born in Chester Pennsylvania, a medical doctor who has worked in the healthcare field for over 13 years in several roles, she defeated Republican candidate Ruth Moton in the 2022 Pennsylvania House of Representative election and was sworn in on January 3, 2023 before winning reelection in 2024.

5. Hon. Esther Agbaje: she was reelected as Minnesota state representative for Minneapolis. She was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota to parents who immigrated to Minnesota from Nigeria.

Agbaje graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, the University of Pennylsvania with a master of Public Administration, and Harvard University with a juris doctor.  she has worked at Harvard’s Legal Aid Bureau and volunteered for Volunteer Lawyers Network Housing Court Project as well as a Foreign Service Officer focusing on the Middle East at the United States Department of State.

Agbaje was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2020 before winning reelection in 2022 and 2024. she currently serves as vice chair of the Housing Finance and Policy Committee, and sits on the Elections Finance and Policy, Taxes, and Ways and Means Committees. She has also served as an assistant majority leader since 2023.

6. Hon. Segun Adeyina: He was reelected as Georgia state representative for Grayson. Segun Adeyina was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in November 2022. He was formerly a representative for the Gwinnett County Tree Advisory Committee and was previously a 2020 Democratic candidate for District 1 of the Gwinnett County School Board. He is currently the executive director of the Nigerian American Public Advisory Committee U.S.A., where he works to promote voter education and registration in immigrant communities.

Adeyina is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from the University of Akron, Ohio and also has a master’s degree in Management Information Systems from Lawrence Technology University.

7. Hon. Gabe Okoye: He was reelected as Georgia state representative for Lawrenceville. Okoye is a native of Enugwu – Udi in Anambra state.  He relocated to United States in 1981 first working as a security guard before he later enrolled in college where he became a civil engineer and eventually founded a company called Essex Geoscientist.

Okoye, a Democrat became the Gwinnett party chairman in 2016. In 2018, he recorded massive wins that captured 13 seats out of the 25 seats available in the county. This historic wins made the Georgia House of Representatives with Resolution 313 of 2019 declared November 6 of 2019 as Gabe Okoye Leadership Day.

In November 2022, he became a legislator elect at the 2022 US midterm elections representing Georgia State and he took office on January 9, 2023 before winning re-election in 2024.

8. Hon. Solomon Adesanya: He was reelected as Georgia state representative for Marietta. Solomon Adesanya grew up in Lagos and on the South side of Chicago. He attended Georgia state University where he obtained a Masters of Public Policy.

In the 2022 US midterm elections. Adesanya, a Democrat who won the election in his first attempt to the Georgia House of Representatives to represent the 43rd District covering mainly Marietta and a small part of Northwest Atlanta, a seat historically held by the Republican party.

He was thereafter reelected in 2024.

9. Hon. Phil Olaleye: He was reelected as Georgia state representative for Atlanta. Phil grew up in a working class family in Stone Mountain and attended Duke University as a working student, spending school breaks studying predatory lending policies across Georgia and the Southeast. in 2014 he earned his master’s degree in public policy from the world-renowned Harvard Kennedy School of Government

He was elected on November 8, 2022, as a legislator at the 2022 US midterm elections Georgia House of Representatives representing District 59 under the Democratic Party, subsequently getting re-elected in 2024.

 

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